In the Event of Andy Warhol

The 2008 gift to W&L of over 150 photographs by legendary Pop artist Andy Warhol is the impetus for this exhibition, which explores the ideas and influence of the renowned artist. To commemorate their 20th anniversary, the Warhol Foundation donated nearly 30,000 of Warhol's Polaroids and black and white prints to more than 180 educational institutions across the country, including W&L and neighboring Roanoke College and Hollins University. For this exhibition, the three institutions have collaborated to present highlights from each of the individual collections. In the Event of Andy Warhol will preview at Washington and Lee's Staniar Gallery and then travel to Roanoke College's Olin Hall Galleries (March 1-April 1, 2012). A selection of works by contemporary artists who have been inspired by Warhol will also be on display, featuring pieces by Shepard Fairey and Piper Ferguson, among others. Other components of the exhibit will be based on Warhol's practice, including videos of student screen tests. In the Event of Andy Warhol will end with the edition of original Warhol works paired with artists that influenced him as well as his contemporaries at the Eleanor D. Wilson Museum at Hollins from May 31 -September 15, 2012.

Collaborative exhibit featured in Roanoke Times: http://www.roanoke.com/extra/wb/301271

 

Independent curator and scholar Stephen Petersen will delivery a public lecture at the W&L exhibition reception. Petersen has an M.F.A. in photography and a Ph.D. in contemporary art. He is on the faculty of the Corcoran College of Art + Design and has taught at the University of Delaware and the University of Pennsylvania. His writings have appeared in Art in America, Art on Paper, Master Drawings, Art Journal, and Sculpture, among other publications. He has been a Fellow at the American Photography Institute at New York University, and the Penn Humanities Forum at the University of Pennsylvania.

Above: Dorothy Hamill, 1977, Unidentified Woman (Abundant Blonde Hair), 1985, Aenne Burda, 1973, Nancy Magoon, 1980, Polacolor ER or Polacolor Type 108 photographs, each 4.25 x 3.375 in.